With any information or data that describes a relationship – a relationship between your organization and your clients, between the organization and its employees or even the relationship between the organization and its vendors, outcomes are influenced by two main components:

Satisfaction => Expectations : Performance

Satisfaction is influenced both by the organization’s performance of its mission and by the expectations held by the clients, employees or business partners/vendors. This means that there are always at least two possibilities for improving satisfaction – the way (how) information and actions are communicated by the organization (performance) and the way (how) information and actions are perceived by stakeholder (expectations).

The Expectation-Performance equation is important because in some cases the organization may already provide a resource that clients/employees/business partners want, however if they are not aware of it, for them it does not exist. Resources need to be examined both in terms of what is being provided and how, but also how information about the resource is/is not communicated.

When you seek to make changes or improvements to enhance the client experience, look both inside and outside. Many of the most impactful and cost-effective solutions are made simply by enhancing communication to realign expectations.